A Busy Night
by Heiduska
Summary: Carmelita experiences ghastly events that seem so real that finally she doesn't know what's real and what's not. A Oneshot based on my bigsister's dreams. SlyXCarmelita. Rated T for violence.


A/N: Okay this is a fic based on my bigsister's dreams. She always sees so horrible and long dreams so she inspired me to write this one-shot. Some of the events may seem a little odd or stupid or incorrect so blame the dreams for that. And I apologise if some of the parts are confusing too. But, I did my best so here it goes.

Oh, and Disclaimer: I don't own Sly Cooper or any other characters created by Sucker Punch. The only ones I own are my own Original Characters that I created just for this fic. Enjoy!

- - - -

"Carmelita what are you doing?" Carmelita heard a voice somewhere near and distantly realized that she was in an unfamiliar room, leaning against a door while trying to get it open. Just a moment ago she was in her own room, and suddenly somewhere else! How could that be possible? The vixen slowly let her hand let go of the doorknob and fall back to her side. She turned around in wonder and started to examine her surroundings. She was in a small, white papered room that contained two beds, a wooden table, a chair and a small lamp that clung above the small table in the middle of the room. There were no windows, so it was quite dim in the room.

"I've told you, it's no use trying to pry open the door."

Carmelita was stunned. There was someone else in the room as well! She looked around wildly and finally noticed someone sitting on one of the beds and writing something to a book. Carmelita started to walk closer, just to see the other person better. When she got close to the bed that was in one corner of the room, she realized who it was who was there with her.

"Mom...?" Yep, it was definitely her. She looked exactly like Carmelita did, though she was older and her eyes were the colour of deep blue. She was wearing a white gown (and so was Carmelita) , like those one can see lunatics wear in madhouses. Carmelita's mother looked at Carmelita like she was crazy.

"Of course it's me, we've been in this madhouse for two years and suddenly you forget who I am? You're not coming crazy for real are you?" Carmelita was so relieved to hear that her mother was there with her, but she was so confused too. How could it be bossible? Surely she would remember that she had been in a madhouse for two years already. How could one forget something that horrible of an event? Carmelita tried to remember anything, but the last thing she could remember was that she was in her own room, in Sly's home, before she went to sleep.

Carmelita tried to mask her suprised look and, thanks to the lighting, obviously did a great job at it since her mother didn't say anything more when Carmelita simply answered. "No, I was just..I guess I was half asleep, I just want to get out of here so badly.."

Carmelita's mother looked at Carmelita for a second and then went back to writing. Carmelita sat onto the other bed and tried to act as normal as possible. But she had to find out how she got into this place. The only way was to ask her mother about it.

"Could you tell me again how we got in here, it's been so long, I can't really remember anymore.."

Carmelita's mother lifted her gaze from the text she was writing, and looked at the back wall deeply in thought. "Well...your father framed us. He lied that we killed his sister. Of course, he killed your aunt Maria, not we. But no one wouldn't believe us. He's a reliable Captain in Interpol, who would believe our word against his? The only way to avoid prison was to fake that we were mental. We were sent here, and as long as we don't cause any trouble, there's a chance that one day we get the hell out of here. And then...we'll find the evidence and prove that we were innocent all along."

Carmelita listened to her mother's unbelievable story in astonishment. Mentally she laughed. That couldn't be possible. Her father loved his wife and his daughter! He wouldn't do it. No, never! But externally she looked astonished. She was a fine inspector herself, in Interpol, of course she wouldn't be sent into a madhouse without any incriminating evidence against her! But yet, here she was, in a madhouse, sitting on a filthy bed, sharing a room with her own mother..

Carmelita's thoughts were interrupted when a clinking of keys was heard. The noise came just outside the door. The door was made of iron, and if you didn't know how to pick a lock you wouldn't get out without a key. The door opened with a creak, pushed open by a strong arm. A tall hog guard wearing a blue uniform stood in the doorframe staring right at Carmelita and her mother while holding a fatal looking gun in his other hand.

"You two, supper's ready. Remember to come back in an hour. I'll have to lock the doors then."

Carmelita was happy to be able to come out of that small musty room. She was starting to become hungry, too. When they were led (by the hog guard) to a main room in the building that contained two places, a living room and a canteen, she lost her appetite. The people there looked so weird that she felt like she was about to throw up. Some of the people there had extra hands, legs or tails, and some had thorns growing from their head. One, a canine, had foam coming from his mouth. They all had fixed their gazes to the food they were supposed to eat, but they weren't touching it. They just stared and stared and stared...

Carmelita clapped her hand over her mouth. The sight was appalling. She just had to get out of here, and fast. She looked away from the people and noticed that there was an open door on one side of the room that led to a balcony. She could see that they were possibly on an island because there was only water that could be seen from the balcony. There were no guards in sight near the door, and Carmelita soon realized why. All those people that were in the madhouse didn't even try to escape. Obviously they had been drugged and turned into mutants of some sort. Well Carmelita didn't plan to stay there with them for any longer.

Carmelita looked around for her mother but she couldn't see her near. The vixen was starting to panic but finally noticed that she had gone to fetch some food and was searching for a place to sit. Carmelita was about to go to her and tell her that she had found a way to espace, but before Carmelita could reach her mother she had went to sit with the scary canine that had foam oozing from his mouth. Carmelita looked at him in disgust and didn't dare to go any nearer. She had only one option. Save herself now that she had the chance and come and free her mother later.

Carmelita would prove that they were innocent all along. The vixen tried to get near the balcony door unnoticed by walking slowly towards it from the side pretending to be interested in the flowers that were implanted to the edge of the balcony. Finally Carmelita got to the balcony. She turned around and checked that no one was watching. No one was. She noticed that the balcony wasn't high, they were on the upper floor. There were even some vines growing from the side of the balcony, this making it even easier for Carmelita to climb down.

_"I'll come back for you mom." _was Carmelita's last thought when she looked inside the madhouse for the last time, took a hold of the vine and started to climb down. Once down on the ground, she started to sprint towards the open water that she now saw in front of her. Carmelita reached the water in time and started to swim further. She was probably so far away from the balcony already that no one could see her even if they were standing on the balcony. But she still had to hurry...

The white gown Carmelita was wearing started to pull the slender vixen a bit underwater when she walked deeper into the water. But she was a good swimmer so she started to swim. After what felt like an eternity Carmelita felt so exhausted that she had to rest. She lay on her back in the water, panting and trying to neutralize her breathing.

After a moment, just when Carmelita started to feel a little better and ready to start swimming again, she felt the water starting to billow around her. First there came small waves and then bigger. Like something huge was coming closer. Then she saw it. An incredibly huge ship came out of nowhere and it was heading directly towards her! The vixen panicked and started to swim away from it as fast as she could. But the ship was so many times faster than she.

Carmelita realized that she couldn't escape and turned around in horror to face the ship There was something attached to the front of the ship. It looked awfully lot like a fishing net..A fishing net that was filled with sharp hooks. Carmelita started to scream and once more tried to swim away from the ship and the deadly looking hooks. The last thing she saw and felt was the billowing of the waves, a horrible pain in her back and then...nothing but pitch-black.

- - - -

It was dimmy, but at the same time somehow bright. Carmelita found herself standing in a middle of an unfamiliar room. Everything in the room was made of wood. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, the door, everything. There were even wooden barrels and wooden chairs in the room. Other than that the room was quite empty. The room reminded Carmelita of some sort of a warehouse. There was a middle-sized window in the room. Some light came through it, but other than that it was really dimmy.

Carmelita happily noticed that she wasn't wearing that white gown anymore. She was wearing her usual blue jeans, boots, blue tubetob and her light brown jacket. Her dark blue hair was in a long braid. She walked around the room and noticed that her back didn't hurt at all. What had just happened?

She didn't have more time to ponder the surprising turn of events when the only door leading to the room bounced open. Sly Cooper came running in, followed by a bunch of small slender guys that looked like ninjas. They had swords and they were all dressed up in black clothes. Their faces couldn't be seen because they had scarfs covering them.

Carmelita stared with her mouth open at Sly and the ninjas. "Sly?? What..?" She didn't have time to say anything more when Sly was already right next to her, had grapped her shock pistol that was conveniently strapped to her belt and had yelled "I'm sorry we got separated, but at least I found them!" and had shot one of the ninjas, instantly paralyzing the villain.

"Here, take this!" Sly gave Carmelita her shock pistol back and started to whack some of the dozen ninjas with his trusty cane. Carmelita stood there a second, staring, but finally realized what was happening and reloaded her shock pistol and joined Sly to fight against the ninjas.

In the midst of the fight Carmelita and Sly got separated. Carmelita managed to paralyze five ninjas that had been harassing her. They were now all on the ground, others totally knocked out and others just barely conscious. Carmelita panted, whirled around to see if there were more ninjas and then heard that the fight was going on in another room.

Carmelita sneaked closer to the door that was fully open. It was the same door that Sly had come through earlier with the ninjas following him. The vixen approached slowly, listening on the fight while creeping closer. Just when she stepped into the room and was about to start shooting the crap out of the ninjas, she heard a bunch of voices cheering. Fearing the worst, she looked at the ninjas. They had gathered around someone. Suddenly the one in the middle raised his sword in the air, cheering. In the tip of the sword was a head. A head that had once belonged to its owner. _Oh my god...it's Sly..._

That was Carmelita's last thought when she hit the ground, fainting...

- - - -

Carmelita couldn't see properly. She slowly realized that she was lying on her back on the ground. She was still wearing her usual attire. It was really dark but finally she started to get used to the dark atmosphere and could see some shapes around her.

She was on an upper floor since there were stairs that led down right in front of her. She didn't see where they were heading but they were there nevertheless. There was also a piano on her right, a chair on her left, some unopened doors on her left and right, a blank back wall behind her and a dusty carpet on the floor.

Carmelita was starting to feel a little scared. Where was she? What if the ninjas had captured her and decided to kill her? Just like they did to Sly... Tears started to gather in Carmelita's eyes when she thought about the sight she had seen. She would never forget it... She was just about to give up and cry, when she heard a sound.

She froze and tried to listen carefully. It sounded like..someone, or something, was coming up the stairs, very slowly. It didn't sound like that someone was heavy, but it sounded like it was really hard for that person to climb up the stairs, like it was dragging itself up the stairs. Carmelita couldn't help it but she had to muffle a sniffle. That someone stopped for a second. The vixen realized that now that someone knew she was there. She held her breath and started to back off silently against the back wall. Finally there, she pulled her knees up against her chest and tried not to move.

The only way out was to go down the stairs, but Carmelita couldn't go there. She tried to close her eyes but she just had to see who that someone was. Suddenly she started to smell something. That someone had reached the top of the stairs and was looking around, looking for Carmelita. The whole room smelt like rotten eggs mixed with musty, disgusting old sausages that have rolled in fat.

There was nowhere to hide. If Carmelita moved or tried to hide, that someone would notice it and attack her immediately for sure. But wouldn't it attack her anyway..? Her last chance was to reach for her shock pistol. It was her only chance of saving herself. She didn't dare to reach for it yet, she would have to wait for the creature to come closer so she could then paralyze it, or hopefully, kill it.

Besides the dragging noise there was another noise as well. The noise sounded like something would be slowing the creature down when it started to crawl awkwardly towards Carmelita. That something looked furtively like slime. That kind of slime you see when snails crawl forward and there's this slime following them.

Carmelita couldn't even tell if the creature was a person or not. She couldn't really see its face, it was too dark. After some horrible and scary seconds the creature had reached Carmelita. It was now sniffing her and scattering slime all over Carmelita's body. The vixen shut her eyes as tightly as she could and slowly started to reach for her shock pistol. Now would be the perfect timing to shoot...nothing. The pistol wasn't strapped into her belt. Shit...

Just then the creature touched Carmelita's hand and she opened her eyes. She stared straight into the creature's face. It was so scary and terrifying at the same time that she could do nothing.

Nothing but scream like hell...

- - - -

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Carmelita bolted up from her own bed screaming and waving her hands around, trying to get the slime (that of course wasn't there for real) away from her body. The vixen didn't realize that she wasn't dreaming anymore. All those dreams had seemed so real that when she finally woke up she thought she was still living a nightmare.

Carmelita whirled around several times trying to make sure there was no one in the room with her. Faintly she realized that she was in her own room in the Cooper Gang's hideout. But still thinking that all that had happened in her dreams was for real and that she had just switched places again, she slipped on her dressing gown and ran away from her room as if something was chasing her. She looked around in horror, trying to remember where was the front door. She noticed that the door to Sly's room was wide open so she checked inside though she knew that he would not be there. Those ninjas had killed him, Carmelita had seen it with her own eyes.

Like she had expected, the room was empty. She was so scared, what if that horrible creature found her and what if those ninjas came back? And she just had to save her mother, she was still in that horrible madhouse with those mutants...! Carmelita hopped down two steps at a time when she hurried downstairs and into the living room. The vixen was panting but she didn't stop running. She looked around in the living room and in the kitchen and her shock grew when she realized that the whole hideout was empty. There would be no one to help her if that horrible creature came back!

Carmelita needed to get out of there. She rushed through the kitchen and reached the front door. She rushed outside and slammed the door shut and sat down leaning against the closed front door. The vixen tried to soothe her breathing. Where could she go now? Well she wouldn't go to her father, he would send her back into the madhouse immediately... Carmelita felt like the world hated her. What had she done so wrong to deserve all this?

Carmelita's thoughts were interrupted when a bright light blinded her. The noise of an engine was heard, some vehicle was coming towards her and the hideout. And, the vixen noticed, someone was driving it quite fast! She raised her right hand to cover her eyes and tried to look attentively. Before she had time to realize it, the vehicle, a van, whizzed past her and parked into the hideout's garage which was attached to the hideout. There was a sound of three doors opening. Carmelita listened carefully.

"Guys, what an awesome heist! Okay, the security system and the lasers were way too easy but-" Sly came out of the van and had reached the front door. He noticed Carmelita sitting there on the ground and practically looking quite horrible with her hair standing up and her eyes all swollen. "Carm...? Why are you sitting here? It's quite cold out here you know."

Carmelita was in a shock and so didn't say anything. She just jumped up and rushed to hug him. Sly looked down at her in wonder, then glanzed at Murray and Bentley, and hugged her back. After a while, when he noticed that she had started to weep too, he asked "Missed me, huh?"

Finally she raised her look. "Missed you? Of course, I thought you were dead!" She pressed her head back against his shoulder.

Now Sly was starting to get really surprised. "What? What are you talking about? We were on a heist and you wanted to stay home and sleep. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

Sly didn't expect Carmelita's next reaction. She stepped farther away from him, pushing him away at the same time. "Fine, don't believe me! You wouldn't be the first one!" Then she stomped inside the hideout, slamming the door shut after her.

The Cooper Gang stood there for a second, staring at the door. Then Murray mumbled something about going to the garage to fix the van and Bentley something about forgetting his laptop into the van. Sly went inside alone.

He opened the door quietly and shut it quietly too after him. He spotted Carmelita immediately, she was sitting in the kitchen, staring at the table and scowling.

The raccoon walked past her and started to warm some milk for her. After a while he spoke up. "Could you tell me what's going on? I'm confused."

Carmelita was slient for a while and Sly thought she wasn't going to answer but she did. "First I was in a madhouse with my mom and I tried to escape but I drowned. Then suddenly I was in a warehouse with you and we got attacked by ninjas and during the attack you were killed. Then I'm in this horrible dark house where there's this scary creature with me and it tries to eat me alive! Then I guess I was here, and then I had to get out so I rushed outside. Then you three just showed up.."

"Sounds like you were dreaming. All that stuff doesn't make any sense. How could you switch places like that? And besides don't your parents live all the way in Spain?"

Carmelita stopped for a second. "Yeah... Of course they do."

"Call them tomorrow morning, they'll be fine and you'll notice I'm right." Sly handed Carmelita some hot chocolate and sat next to her, watching as she drank it. When she was done, she looked a lot better already.

He then suddenly scooped her up and started to carry her towards his room. Carmelita started to smile a little. "Where are you taking me?"

Sly just smiled cunningly. "I'll prove to you that this is certainly not a dream..."

Carmelita's smile widened and she started to giggle. This didn't seem like a dream anymore. Not at all...

- - - -

A/N: A stupid ending, I know. But I thought I had better end it there. So tell me what you think in a review.


End file.
